Basis of Bigotry
by Intelligensia
Summary: No-one becomes a murderous, bigoted psychopath for the heck of it. There are always reasons. Here are some of the things that turned the vivacious, elegant Tom Riddle into the crude, heartless monster that is Voldemort. This is the basis of his bigotry.
1. Beginnings of Bitterness

_Basis of Bigotry_

o~O~o

He backs up again. There is cold hard stone at his back. His pudgy legs collapse under him. On the ground he looks up at his tormentors. They loom over him, blocking the light. All of them are at least double his four years. They do nothing but ridicule him, day in, day out. Fear comes, gripping him in its strong vice grip. What can he do? He's hopeless, lying at the feet of these devils, and they don't care. Nobody cares about him. He opens his mouth and _screams._

Energy bursts out of him. A great big wave of pure hatred. He's bottled his anger and now the cork comes off. The five boys are beaten to the floor. He can feel the panic rolling off the boys and he devours the feeling. He's alive and he's victorious. Now he feels powerful. He's not weak any longer, he won't be bullied any longer and he _loves_ it. This is his place. Now they will bow to him. He won't be a pawn to be bullied and sacrificed. Now he's the king.

o~O~o

_He's the problem child, the one everyone avoids. He's lonely. He wanders about in his own little world, hating the others for excluding him. Sometimes the new kids talk to him, perhaps a brief 'Hello" or 'How are you?'. He ignores them. Sooner or later someone will tell them about him, and they'll start avoiding him and looking at him funny. He wonders why he's so different. Why does everyone hate him, fear him? They skirt around him in the corridors, and if they have to move within a meter of him they do so with a look of abject terror. He's the odd one, the problem child, the one no-one likes._

_All he wants is to be recognized, to be included, anything but the hate and fear. They treat him like he's got the plague, so he acts like it, in the same way a child labeled dumb will act dumb. He starts taking vindictive pleasure in hurting them, although it can never hurt the way they hurt him. His only defense is to keep himself aloof, to live alone among the rowdiness of millions. Anything else rips his heart asunder._

o~O~o

He starts believing there's something wrong with him. He just lies on his bed, staring at the ceiling. If anyone disturbs him he lashes out, not caring who he hurts. He takes to stealing and fighting, anything to distract himself. He's a leper, no getting around it. 27 schools have tossed him out, like the garbage he is. No-one so much as tries to help. If they do, he bites. He meditates all day long. What else is there to do? Nothing.

One day a group of kids get the courage to attack him. They come at him, seven heavily muscled thugs. They hit him, and kick him, and he just lies there thinking that they're right. He doesn't fit, never did, never will.

o~O~o

_For the first time in years, he's happy. He was wrong, completely wrong, but in a different sense than he thought. It's not him with the problem, it's everyone else. The- what was it again? –muggles. He fits, he's right, they don't, they aren't. His entire world changes, twisting until it's up-side-down. Then he realizes that it's not the wrong way around now, but that it was wrong before. Tom Riddle takes his rightful place in the world, the place of a ruler, the place of God._

_The arguments and violence are only to be expected of such low-life beings. Suddenly everything's so right. This is why he was treated so badly all along- not because he deserved it, but because they didn't know better. They are stupid imbeciles, and he feels hatred welling up at him at the thought of them._

o~O~o

He shivers on the stool, trembling under the gaze of hundreds. This is nothing like he had thought- apart from one table. The group of people sitting behind the green and silver banner are the only ones who look at all as he imagined. They sit straight, with a regal air around them. The stares coming from them are cool and intense, much like his own. While the others laugh and joke like muggles, they survey the hall like it belongs to them. Tom knows at once that he belongs there. This is confirmed when the hat yells 'SLYTHERIN!'

He stands almost lazily, sauntering over to take his place. They move aside for him, as they should. It is only after he is seated that he notices the revulsion directed towards him- not only by the _other_ tables, but by his own house. He shivers, and wonders whether he made the right decision. He is sick and tired of a life of loathing. He wants to be liked, admired, respected. Everywhere, always, _they_ have looked on him as inferior. He wants to rise from where he is.

He always gets what he wants. Always.

o~O~o

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I may or may not update this. Reviews will encourage me to do so. If I do, it will probably only be little scenes like this, but during his Hogwarts years. If I get enough motivation to write a third chapter, that will be Borgin and Burkes or maybe his perceptions of his rise. If there is enough interest, I may use this for a story where he was never defeated but Harry was sent to the Dursleys anyway 'for his safety' and they meet. This would have Harry slowly destroying his prejudices. Not completely, of course. Just like so that he doesn't attack school children and innocents. He'll still kill, of course, but Harry will change him so he only takes vengeance on those who wronged him. It's just, there's all those stories where Voldemort influences Harry to the Dark side- or at least away from the light- but very few where Harry changes Voldemort.


	2. Shadows cannot be without Light

_**Shadows cannot be without Light**_

o~O~o

He curses himself for not paying better attention. He knows better than to ignore his surroundings, even if they are as grand as these. Negligence could kill him, he knew that all too well. If it weren't for his magic he'd be dead by now. He wonders whether his power will protect him from these new tormentors, if he'll still be alive in an hour. Looking up into their faces, he doubts it.

He doesn't scream when they beat him. He never screams, never cries, never yells about the injustice of it all. He just looks at them with those knowing brown eyes, jaded beyond belief. He doesn't understand why this makes them hit him harder, why they fear his gaze. It is only when he faces the child that will be his downfall and looks into his omniscient eyes that he realizes. They fear him, because he shows them their faults. They hate him because they fear him, because _they are wrong_ and he knows it. They fear themselves. He mirrors back to them what they are, and they fear it.

Fear leads to Hate. Hate leads to the need for Revenge. Revenge leads to War.  
>He knows this for he embodies it.<p>

o~O~o

_They are beating him again. He has learnt their names now. It would be hard to extract revenge if he knew naught about them. _

_The leader, Adrian __Tortionnaire__, is a Mud-blood. __Tortionnaire__ is Slytherin by name but not by practice- the house hates the older boy for daring to be descended from muggles. They would hate him, too, but they do not know that his parents are most likely unmagical. He has insinuated that his mother was Grindlewald's mistress from before the war started. He tells them that she had to flee when her lover started the conflict, but that she was followed by the Light. He lies through his teeth, saying that she left him at a muggle orphanage so he would not be killed alongside her._

_He wishes it were true._

o~O~o

While his deceit has gained him the respect of most Dark families, there are those that hate him all the more for it. Tortionnaire's lackey, a half-blood slut, lost her parents to the war. She does not understand how hypocritical she is, hexing him, hurting him- for the same reason her parents were killed. Prejudice, Hate and Fear.

He hates her. He hates all of them. He had thought, for a while, that it was only muggles who hated him, that only muggles were abusive. Now he realizes that it is genetic, that their spawn is just as cruel, just as hateful, repulsive and weak as they are. He knows he is being two-faced, knows that he is of the same disgusting line. He embraces it.

He realizes that the reason they act that way is because they need to be superior, better than everyone else. But they are puny, pathetic. They will never succeed. They will always be caught in a meaningless struggle for dominance, never getting anywhere. All their lives, they will be caught in an unescapable web of violence.

Right now, he is in there with them. He is like them, struggling to get to the top. The difference is that he, unlike them, will get there. He will be the greatest- and he will stay the greatest. His will not be a fleeting five minutes of fickle fame, a few seconds of recognition. His will be the lasting notoriety of the old warrior-kings; feared, respected and worshipped in equal measure.

o~O~o

_He lies bleeding on the floor at the foot of the staircase. They stand over him, laughing and jeering. Half his wounds come from being pushed down the steps. The rest come from being kicked around like a football, cursed as badly as one of the training dummies in the Dueling Club. He glares at his tormentors. He loathes them, a feeling as much a part of him as his magic. _

_Footsteps can be heard coming towards them. A _click-clack_ of wood on stone. He knows that tread- it belongs to Albus Dumbledore, Transfiguration Professor and Head of Gryffindor. For the first time since he was ambushed, he begins to hope. Perhaps this torture will end? He does not like the Professor, but would worship him forever if only the man would help him!_

_The older pair hear it too, and look at each other in panic- but they can tell Dumbledore is to close for them to run. Triumph bloats his chest. It is finally over, at last. _

_The man rounds the corner and stops at the sight. The Head of Gryffindor turns to __Tortionnaire__. He comes crashing back down to earth, despair replacing his anticipation. Dumbledore had always favoured __Tortionnaire__, thinking the 'poor boy' to be grievously unlucky to be sorted into Slytherin. The man seemed to think that the third year was pure and good; taking the scorn Slytherin showed towards the boy as proof. The Professor always favoured Gryffindor, thinking that house to be the epitome of light, with Slytherin it's polar opposite._

_There was no way such a man would side with him._

o~O~o

"My, what on earth has happened here?"  
>"Oh sir! Tom fell down the stairs. We were trying to get him to the infirmary, but weren't sure whether it was safe to move him."<br>"Thank you, Adrian. Twenty points to Slytherin- and twenty to Gryffindor for helping him, Miss Ndihmes."

The man walked over to him. Coughing up blood, he lifted himself from the ground and weakly stabbed at one of the curse marks on his side. This was a particularly nasty one, the burning curse. It was a classified illegal Dark spell. He could tell by the Professor's frown that the old man recognized the mark.

"How on earth did this happen! I did not think that anyone in this school would be so cruel as to use such a spell!"  
>"Whatever do you mean, sir?"<br>"Adrian, I fear that this young boy has been attacked with one of the worst spells in existence. The Burning Curse is lethal unless treated in time. It is a more painful way to die than the Killing Curse! Young Tom is indeed lucky you managed to find him in time. Do you have any idea who might of done such a thing?"  
>"Sir- I have an idea, but do not feel it my place to say."<br>"Nonsense, dear boy. Any suspicion would be of great help!"  
>"Well, sir, I don't like to say this, but… Tom is a bit violent, you see. He always picks fights with the younger years. When I saw this, I thought it might be a good idea to teach them a Mirror Shield. I- I never meant for them to reflect such a deadly curse back at anyone. Though you do understand sir, it is quite understandable. Self defence, you know. It would also explain how he fell down the stairs."<br>"My dear boy! This is most troubling. Does Tom have anything to say for himself?"

I lift myself up as much as I am able. I try to cough the words out, but only blood comes out. In the end, I simply point to Tortionnaire.

"Do you mean to say young Adrian is right, Mr. Riddle? Do you realize how much trouble you could get into for this? You will most assuredly be expelled, maybe even go to Askaban!"  
>"No… I didn't… Tort… aire… curse…"<br>""You cursed Adrian! Why did you not say so, my dear boy? Even if you managed to reflect most of the curse back, some still must have hit you! We must get you to the hospital wing at once!"  
>"No… he cursed me… Check…. wand…."<br>"You must be delirious! Adrian would never do such a thing. Please do not lie to me, Mr. Riddle."  
>"Chec… and…"<br>"Very well. Adrian, may I?"  
>"Sir, I'm afraid- you see, he disarmed me. Of course, he didn't want there to be any proof he did it, so, you see…"<br>"Oh, dear boy. I understand. The only problem is that it is now all but impossible to convict Mr. Riddle of wrongdoing, if the curse shows up on your wand instead of his!"  
>"Yes, sir. But, I do feel that Tom can redeem himself. We need not tell anyone of this; I am sure that he will change his ways."<br>"My dear boy, you make me prouder of you every day. A very merciful choice indeed! However, I fear that I will still need to punish Mr. Riddle in some way. He will spend every evening for the next two years in detention with me. Now, if you would help me take him to the infirmary?"  
>"Of course, sir"<p>

He does not react as the older males roughly drag him onto a stretcher. He feels defeated, disillusioned and bitter. He has always known that no-one cares for him, but having it made so obvious is a slap in the face. He cannot bring himself to be surprised.

But there is one piece of information about the Burning Curse that Dumbledore, being a Light wizard, would not know. This is one that far overshadows the comparatively meaningless disregard the Professor shows for his life.

The Burning Curse does not truly burn a person. The feeling it causes is merely a mental projection of its effect. What the Burning Curse does is to destroy the mind. It starts with Logic and Reason, making the sufferer incapable of thinking anything through. Then it moves on to Positive Emotion, taking away the will to live. Thirdly it moves on to memories, taking away the entire life of the victim, until they forget to live.

He doubts that he will lose his memories. However, he is already well into the second stage of the curse. he can feel the Curse twisting him, turning him into a monster.

There is not much for it to do.  
>His Fear is already Hate, that Hate already Fury, that Fury already looking for vengeance.<p>

He wants revenge.  
>He always gets what he wants.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Over three pages! Go me! I rock!


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